I've decided to start posting a screen shot of random amusing comments each week. Sometimes I see things that just make me laugh...

These comments are in response to an article about something seen flying through the sky in California. Nobody knows what it could have been, but this guy does...

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The White House has another creepy Internet site asking for information on people opposing Obama's views.

This is sad. I can't imagine that anyone will take this seriously. It's an Internet site that will be advertised freely because of its pure silliness. Comedy Central couldn't come up with something better than this.

This is like the story from the UK Guardian warning of social networking leading to loneliness. Then there are links to social networking sites just to the right of the article title. That way lonely people can talk about their loneliness with other people, making them even more lonely? This is ground breaking research because it proves that "academics" are even more lonely than those they are researching.

Got to love it!

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I find it interesting that the New York Times even reported this. So, what went wrong? Of course the article is filled with the obligatory, "e-mail led to an ever decreasing amount of conventional mail" excuse. I wonder how much of an effect the telephone had on conventional mail usage? The real problem is usually avoided by most media.

The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.

The post office’s problems stem from one hard reality: it is being squeezed on both revenue and costs.

As any computer user knows, the Internet revolution has led to people and businesses sending far less conventional mail.

At the same time, decades of contractual promises made to unionized workers, including no-layoff clauses, are increasing the post office’s costs. Labor represents 80 percent of the agency’s expenses, compared with 53 percent at United Parcel Service and 32 percent at FedEx, its two biggest private competitors. Postal workers also receive more generous health benefits than most other federal employees.

So there is only a 20% operating budget for anything other than labor? That's ridiculous; with numbers like that it would seem that the Post Office exists as a method of employment first, if they get the mail delivered that would be nice too.

This is a glaring example of the of government idiocy. Many postal workers are going to end up without jobs at the end of this. If the operating budget is 80% labor; how will the USPS decrease costs when union wages are non negotiable. It's simple math really, the USPS must reduce their labor costs because it's largest single expense they have. Their only other option would be to decrease the time that employees are on the clock. The effect is the same, labor costs will go down, and USPS employees will take home less in wages. The American Postal Workers Union, APWU, and the National Association of Letter Carriers, NALC, have effectively priced their employer out of the market.

I think this is a very telling story of how the "The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs" can't always keep giving. Government is going broke because of excess spending and lack of insight. The USPS is no different.

What exactly will happen? Who knows. I suspect that Congress will step in and allow the USPS to maintain some ridiculous amount of debt. After all, how can Congress criticize; they just raised the entire country's debt limit while ignoring the causes of debt. The USPS will do the same.

There is no reason for the USPS to change because its oversight is provided by those who are in the same boat.

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According to Obama, the Republicans in Congress are the reason that we are in this mess. Obama is hopeful that the American people have a very short memory and won't pin the blame where it belongs.

Speaking in the key election state of Iowa, Democrat Obama portrayed Republicans as blocking progress on the economy.

"We could do even more if Congress is willing to get in the game," he said in Peosta, Iowa, referring to job creation measures he is pushing for in free trade, payroll taxes and road construction.

"The only thing that is holding us back is our politics. The only thing that is preventing us from passing the bills I just mentioned is the refusal of a faction in Congress to put country ahead of party, and that has to stop," Obama said. "Our economy can't afford it."

"America is going to come back from this recession stronger than before, that I'm convinced of, I believe that," Obama said to applause. "And I'm also convinced that comeback isn't going to be driven by Washington."

Let me get this straight. We, as a country, are going to recover and bounce back stronger than before. The only thing holding us back is politics/Republicans. All we have to do is pass some bills. But, "...that comeback isn't going to be driven by Washington"?

If the comeback isn't going to be driven by Washington, how can Washington magically fix it?

Besides being incoherent; I can't believe that anyone would actually buy in to this considering what Obama said in reference to the percentage of his personal accomplishments he has achieved.

Rolling Stone 10-28-2010
- Obama

You look at all this, and you say, "Folks, that's what you elected me to do." I keep in my pocket a checklist of the promises I made during the campaign, and here I am, halfway through my first term, and we've probably accomplished 70 percent of the things that we said we were going to do — and by the way, I've got two years left to finish the rest of the list, at minimum. So I think that it is very important for Democrats to take pride in what we've accomplished.

All that has taken place against a backdrop in which, because of the financial crisis, we've seen an increase in poverty, and an increase in unemployment, and people's wages and incomes have stagnated. So it's not surprising that a lot of folks out there don't feel like these victories have had an impact. What is also true is our two biggest pieces of legislation, health care and financial regulatory reform, won't take effect right away, so ordinary folks won't see the impact of a lot of these things for another couple of years. It is very important for progressives to understand that just on the domestic side, we've accomplished a huge amount.

Obama said the impact of his two biggest pieces of legislation won't be seen for another couple of years. It's not quite been one year since the interview. Obama is blaming the Republicans for the weakened economy before his own economic efforts are set to bear fruit. Remember the two year timeline was set by Obama himself.

Obama has a predictable pattern of blaming everything negative on the other party. If the economy was already doing poorly a little less than one year ago; how is it the Republicans fault now? The Republicans didn't control a majority in the House until the November elections last year. The Rolling Stone interview was in October of last year.

Unless the Republicans have a time machine and are trying to confuse Obama "Terminator Style" none of what he has claimed makes any sense.

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The Dream Act didn't make it through Congress. But that doesn't stop those who want to implement it by any means necessary.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would suspend deportation proceedings against many illegal immigrants who pose no threat to national security or public safety.

The new policy “will not provide categorical relief for any group” and “will not alleviate the need for passage of the Dream Act or for larger reforms to our immigration laws,” Ms. Napolitano said.

People in deportation proceedings stand to benefit most from the new policy. The new enforcement priorities also make it less likely that the government will begin such proceedings in the future against people who have no criminal records and pose no threat to national security.

The action would also bolster President Obama’s reputation with Latino voters as he heads into the 2012 election. Just a week ago the leaders of major Hispanic organizations criticized his record, saying in a report that Mr. Obama and Congress had “overpromised and underdelivered” on immigration and other issues of concern to Latino voters, a major force in some swing states.

This activity is prohibited by the United States Constitution. This is a prime example of the law being applied to one group and not the other. Both groups committed crimes, but because of an arbitrary decision the law is upheld for one group and not for the other group.

You have to pay very close attention to what Napolitano says. She stated that it won't provide "categorical relief" for any group. This is a very dangerous thing to say. If there were no "categorical relief" for any group; why issue any new enforcement priorities.

The article goes on to say, "People in deportation proceedings stand to benefit most from the new policy." If you have overstayed your visa you have committed a crime; you now have a criminal record. Of course this will be played out in the media as a race issue, when in fact, is has nothing to do with race at all. It has to do with the law actually being upheld in a constitutional manner.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, denounced the new policy.

“The Obama administration has again made clear its plan to grant backdoor amnesty to illegal immigrants,” Mr. Smith said. “The administration should enforce immigration laws, not look for ways to ignore them. Officials should remember the oath of office they took to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land.”

Lamar Smith is right. Look at what Obama said in his speech to the National Council of La Raza.

"The idea of doing things on my own is very tempting, I promise you, not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That's not how our democracy functions," Obama told the National Council of La Raza.

I pointed this out last month. We actually have a sitting president who shows a willingness to disregard the United States Constitution; now that willingness has become action.

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